


Don't you ever tame your demons (always keep them on a leash)

by 42isRobin (mari_gomes)



Category: Deadpool (Comics), Marvel, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Not Beta Read, Peter Needs a Hug, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Spideypool - Freeform, Wade is a cinnamon Roll
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-24 00:43:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6135613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mari_gomes/pseuds/42isRobin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Wade Wilson was sitting in his couch, in a hawaiian t-shirt, sunglasses and jeans. He was eating pizza. Peter’s mouth started watering, he should ask if Deadpool would let him eat before killing him."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't you ever tame your demons (always keep them on a leash)

**Author's Note:**

> In this universe, Soulmates get tattoos when they touch skin to skin.  
> Peter's Mark  
>   
> The fic is for: [](http://strawhatpirate9.tumblr.com/%E2%80%9D>StrawHatPirate9</a>%20%0AI%20hope%20you%20like%20it%20:\))  
> The title is from the song Arsonist's Lullabye from Hozier
> 
> Edit: Thank you [DreadPirateWombat](http://archiveofourown.org/users/DreadPirateWombat/pseuds/DreadPirateWombat) for betaing this fic for me.

Everyone in the world had a soulmate. It was one of those things you could be certain of. Peter Parker had given up on having a soulmate when he decided to become Spider-Man; he knew it would just endanger his soulmate. He didn’t want anyone to die because of him. Never. Again. Not after Gwen.

Besides, he didn’t have time for soulmates, not when Deadpool had decided that he was “defending” Peter’s neighborhood. Spider-Man had had to re-save 12 of the people Deadpool “saved” since the merc had moved into his territory. Not that Peter was counting. He needed to talk to the mercenary.

“Spidey, baby boy.” Speak of the devil. It seemed Wade had found him first. It saved Peter time.

“Wade, I already told you not to call me that,” Peter turned to the man, who was waving to him. Never had the merc looked more like a puppy than he did now. And Peter was about to metaphorically kick the puppy. “We need to talk.”

“He noticed us,” Peter was sure the merc was smiling behind the mask. He is not a puppy, Parker, get a hold of yourself. “I know, we can ask the author later.” For the sake of his mental health, which was not the best already, Peter ignored the merc and braced himself.

“Deadpool, you need to stop trying to save people.” Peter could see, even through the mask, the way Deadpool’s face fell. Great, now he was the worst person in this rooftop. Should he try to fix this?

Deadpool seemed to be in deep conversation with himself. What little Peter could distinguish from the mutterings made him feel even worse for the guy. He was trying to be better, apparently. Peter got this.

“Wade,” Peter tried to redirect the merc’s attention to himself again. This was a bad idea. The worst idea Peter ever had, and he went out every night in red and blue spandex to fight crime. “I can teach you how to be a hero.” Deadpool’s squeal of delight and hug, very tight hug, should have been a warning sign.

“I’m so happy, Spidey,” he let Peter go and looked at him. Somehow, Peter knew the merc was serious. “You’ll see, I’ll be the best superhero ever!” He spun Peter around, and Peter really wanted to review his life choices now. It was close to two a.m., he was on a dirty rooftop in New York, being hugged by a guy who was unstable on his best days. Peter totally didn’t got this.

“You can put me down now, Wade.” He hoped he sounded stern, but he wasn’t sure. Peter was a bit breathless from the hug and the spinning.

“We should celebrate!” Wade grabbed Peter’s hand and started moving them towards the fire escape stairs on the roof. “Tacos are on me.” Peter let himself be led by the mercenary.

His logical side was screaming at him to call SHIELD and hande Wade over to them. His soft side was reminding him of the face Wade made when he had told Wade to stop saving people. Peter decided he was going to hand Wade over to SHIELD and the Avengers if Wade showed signs of going back to his old ways.

“We can go to Luz’s; she has the best tacos in the whole New York.” Wade was still leading him by the hand and talking a mile a minute about what Peter hoped was a made-up story about drug cartels and naked women. “I’ll pay, of course!”

The merc led them to a truck that had seen better days, not very far from the rooftop their initial meeting was. The truck was painted a faded red color and had a drawing of a smiling taco holding a machete. Peter had a feeling he didn’t want to look inside of the truck.

“Luz,” Wade yelled near the opening of the truck. A loud bang and a very indecent curse later, a young woman appeared at the window. Her soulmate mark was on her left cheek, a very beautiful dahlia, with its red petals almost reaching her neck. “Light of my life. I want three of your specials and one without heat for my friend here.”

“Do you have money to pay me, Wade? I’m not letting you eat without paying like the last time.” The woman gave Wade a smile with too many teeth when he lifted his walled (where he’d stashed it was a mystery) and gave her a twenty dollar bill. “That about covers it.”

“We’ll be seated at the usual table.” The woman just waved Wade off and went to what Peter supposed was her work station. “C’mon, baby boy.” Peter’s protests over the nickname were dutifully ignored, as Wade dragged him to a table, repeating the word “chimichanga” over and over.

\----

Peter was having a crappy day. He was soaked to the bone, had at least three bruised ribs from a fight and was hungry. He wanted to go home, eat and maybe sleep for a week. As he entered his apartment (from the window since he still had his Spider-Man uniform on), he knew something was wrong.

His spider senses were screaming at him to back the fuck off.

Wade Wilson was sitting on his couch, in a Hawaiian t-shirt, sunglasses and jeans. He was eating pizza. Peter’s mouth started watering; he hoped Deadpool would let him eat before killing him.

“Heya, Spidey.” Deadpool waved at him from the couch. Peter blinked. “Since you so kindly agreed to train me, I thought I’d drop by and give you pizza.” Peter had forgotten about that. It had been a crazy and long week. “I also brought Golden Girls and The Walking Dead.” Saying no to Deadpool would be like kicking a puppy.

“Sure, Wade. Walking Dead?” His brain was screaming at him to kick Deadpool out and sleep, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. The guy was actually trying to be better. And had followed all the rules Peter had given him the previous week.

“I don’t know, I’m going to ask him,” Wade was again talking to someone who wasn’t there. It made Peter a little bit uneasy. “Were you saying that you want to watch the Walking Dead or you don’t know what it is?” It took about six seconds for Peter’s brain to catch up.

“Walking Dead, I want to watch it.” Wade smiled at him. Peter wanted to ask if his permanent wounds hurt. He also wanted to ask about Wade’s soulmark. He dreaded the answer to the last one. “I stopped at the third season.”

Peter grabbed a piece of pizza; it had pineapples in it, but the crust was perfect. He wondered where Wade had gotten it. He was about to ask the merc, when he realized Wade was still wearing his mask. He had just pushed it above his nose so he could eat.

“Why are you still wearing that?” His tiredness had worn his filters down, he should really go to sleep. But that would mean leaving Wade alone in his apartment.  
“Says the guy in full costume.” Wade was looking at him now, with one eyebrow raised.

“Fair enough.” Peter shrugged and pushed his mask above his nose to eat. Wade stared at him a little more before going back to his pizza.

They stayed like that, sitting on Peter’s lumpy couch, side by side, Wade’s incessant chatter about the episodes and characters lulling Peter to a light sleep.

Peter dreamed about Gwen dying. Once upon a time, he had thought they could be great together. He remembered how they fit, even without the Mark people waited their whole lives for. He remembered how she had told him it didn’t matter. She was not a peon of fate.

Her death still hurt like an infected wound that refused to heal. She was the reason Peter dreaded his Mark ever appearing on his body. He didn’t want a soulmate; he would feel like he was betraying Gwen somehow.

\----

When Peter woke up the next morning, he noticed two things: he was in his own bed and there was the smell of pancakes coming from his kitchen. He shook his head to chase away the remnants of his dream. And followed the sweet smell.

Wade was in Peter’s kitchen, making pancakes, wearing a pink apron over his Deadpool uniform and singing what seemed to be his own version of “Hollaback Girl”.

Peter wondered when his life got so out of control. Maybe he should take a vacation to somewhere far away from New York. He couldn’t remember the last time he took one. Maybe he should go on a spiritual journey; he felt like he needed one.

“Spidey, you’re awake.” Wade turned to him and smiled. “The boxes were starting to get worried, but I told them the author wouldn’t kill you this early in the story.” There was not enough coffee in the world for Peter to deal with this. He was sure the universe was laughing at him. Wade continued, “I made coffee too.”

“Thanks, Wade.” Peter scratched his face; he needed a shave and a shower. Wait. He put his hands to his face. His maskless face. He was maskless in front of Deadpool. Who was in his apartment. His brain started to catch up with the events of the day before. “How did you found out where I live?”

“I followed you home, once. Or twice.” Deadpool tilted his head and looked Peter intensely in the eyes. “You shouldn’t come back to your place in costume, Spidey, it's dangerous.”

“You followed me?” Peter took a sip from his coffee, his brain processing the information. It was too early for this, but he had to know. He had to be more careful. “I didn’t notice you doing it.”

“I know you didn’t.” Wade’s expression sobered a little bit. “Lucky you, I don’t mean you any harm.” He grinned at Peter, who couldn’t help himself and smiled back.

“You’re a nice guy, Wade.”

“Thanks, baby boy.” He put a plate full of pancakes in front of Peter. “Eat up, growing heroes need their strength.”

“I’m not growing anymore, and it’s Peter.” The intense look was back. “My name, Wade, it’s Peter.” It was only fair, a part of his brain supplied. He knew Wade’s name and where he lived (he had followed the mercenary home once. Not his proudest moment); he knew that Wade was crazy and talked to the voices in his head.

“Peter, Petey, baby boy.” Why did Wade insist on that nickname? Peter hated it! Wade was repeating his name now. Peter had lost him; the guy had a very short attention span and got distracted by almost anything.

“You can’t tell anyone my name; it would be dangerous.” Wade nodded, still repeating Peter’s name. “Not even if they pay you.”

“It’s okay, Petey, I wouldn’t betray you like that.”

“Thanks.” Who would have ever thought Wade was such a nice guy?

“These pancakes are great, Wade, very tasty.”

“Told you he would like the pancakes.”

Peter didn’t want to know, he really didn’t. He still needed a shower.

“I’m going to shower.” He turned to the merc, who seemed to be having a discussion with himself about the healing capacity of pancakes. Peter told himself to just go, maybe the merc wouldn’t be there when he got out of the shower.

\---

Wade’s presence somehow became permanent in Peter’s life. The merc had taken Peter not kicking him out of the apartment as an open invitation. At first, it was a little bit unsettling; Wade would turn up at his apartment any hour of the day or night, sometimes with wounds that would have killed a normal person.

A month had already passed since the day Peter had offered teach the merc how to be a hero. They had already established some rules, like Wade was not allowed to shoot clowns (or mimes).

He had started out not being very optimistic about Wade’s capacity to be a hero and was surprised that the merc was already entering his second month of “Hero School”, as Wade put it. They had also started a tradition of watching crappy movies after fights or training, and Peter started expecting Wade’s company when he came home.

Peter had to admit, at least to himself, that he liked the merc. The guy was insufferable most of the time, didn’t stop talking and made more pancakes than anybody was capable of eating, things that Peter now found oddly endearing instead of annoying.

He was so screwed; it wasn’t even funny. Johnny would probably laugh at him, if he could ever bring himself to tell him about it.

\---

Peter didn’t realize his Mark had appeared until Tony pointed it out. It was an intricate watercolor of a katana with a red and blue background. It was obvious to Peter who his soulmate was. He might have freaked out a little.

“Who’s the lucky one?” Tony was still looking at the Mark. It was on Peter’s back, over his left shoulder blade. Peter shrugged; he didn’t want to tell Stark about his and Wade’s tentative and growing friendship. He also didn’t want to tell the man that Deadpool might be his soulmate.

“I hadn’t noticed I had a Mark until you pointed it out. I don’t know who it is.” Peter was lying. To Tony Stark. He could totally pull this off.

“Sorry to hear it kid; this soulmates business is never easy.” Tony would know. His soulmate was Steve Rogers and they both fought all the time. “Maybe you’ll find them.”

“I don’t know, I have a feeling my soulmate wants this about as much as I do,” by which he meant not at all. He hadn’t seen the merc for two weeks now (not that he was counting) and he was sure Wade would have said something if he wanted Peter as his soulmate. “It’s better this way.”

Tony looked like he wanted to say something else, but Peter wasn’t in the mood. He just wanted to get out of the medical bay and go home. Sleep sounded like the best thing now. The whole soulmate thing was making him even more tired than he already had been.

“If you need someone to talk to, you know where to find me.” Peter gave Tony a small smile. He was never going to take Tony up on the offer, but it was good to know he had someone in his corner.

“Thanks, Tony, really.”

“Good luck, kid.” Tony put his hand on Peter’s shoulder and squeezed. Of all the people on Earth, Tony was the one who could understand him best. Peter still wasn’t going to tell him about Wade, though.

Peter stood up from the examination table (damn those things were cold) and left. He needed to go home, watch a sad movie (or ten) and eat tons of ice cream. After he allowed himself a brief pity party, he’d be able to deal with it.

\----

Peter was watching Legally Blonde, was on his second pint of ice cream (chocolate chip) and wearing nothing but his boxers. He wondered when his life had gotten so out of his control. Maybe it had been when he didn’t tell Deadpool to leave him alone, maybe it had been when he started to realize that Wade was more than an assassin with a motor mouth.

Someone was trying to open his window. He could hear them, but knew that whoever it was, they couldn’t see him. Peter reached for his web-shooters and waited. Whoever it was was in for a nasty surprise.

Peter turned and shot webs at the intruder, who was wearing a red suit. Covered in blood.

“Wade?” The merc waved at him. He was missing a hand, and his uniform had been ripped almost entirely off his body. His skin was marred with caked blood and what was left of his uniform was stiff with it. “What happened to you?”

“Baby boy,” Wade smiled at him, his missing hand already in the process of growing back. Hello nightmares. “I was working, turns out, Sabertooth was hired to protect the guy I was hired to kill.”

Wade looked happy, so Peter assumed he had won in the end. He was also carrying a bag of what Peter presumed were tacos from Luz’s and what seemed like a giant gummy bear.

“Tacos and movies?” It was times like this that Peter wanted to scream and hurt every single person in Wade’s life. The guy was looking at him so eagerly, but tensed. Like he was expecting Peter to yell at him and kick him out.

“Sounds great, let me just put on some pants. You can choose the movie. And clean up the blood.”

Wade squealed and started going through Peter’s queue to choose a movie. He was going to end up picking the trashiest movie on Netflix (last time they had watched Battle of the Damned). Peter could at least laugh at Wade’s running commentary of the movies and his outrage over the littlest things.

\---

The movie this time was Shoot ‘Em Up, but Peter wasn’t paying too much attention to the movie. He was watching the merc. Peter had never realized how deep and smoky his voice was, how he looked so young when he was relaxed and laughing. Peter knew Wade was usually guarded and tense around people.

“Petey, you’re starting to freak me out.” Wade turned to him, “You been staring at me ever since the movie started.”

“I was just thinking, Wade.” Wade tensed and Peter had to reassure him, fast, or this was going to turn ugly. “What do you think about soulmates?”

“What do you mean?” Wade was still tense and looked ready to bolt. This was not going as Peter planned. At all.

“Soulmates, Wade,” Peter took a breath and looked the merc in the eyes. Here we go. “You’re my soulmate. I got my Mark after that night you patched me up.”

Peter knew Wade was aware of what night he was talking about. It was the night Peter had fought Lizard and had broken a few ribs, and Lizard had swiped one of Peter’s legs with his claws. Wade had found Peter in his apartment and patched him up.

“You’re fucking with me.” Wade turned to him, his face serious and brown eyes hard. He was muttering incoherently to himself, and pacing. Peter tried to reach out to him, but thenWade escaped (through the window, his mind informed him).

Peter was left alone in his apartment.

He sighed; it wasn’t supposed to happen like that, Wade should have known Peter would never hurt him like that. Never.

He sat back on the couch ( he didn’t remember standing up), and stared blankly at the television. The guy on the screen was killing people while parachuting out of a plane. Peter had just screwed up the best relationship he had had in years. He felt like crying, and he didn’t even know what he had done wrong.

“That did not go how I expecte.” Peter felt tired and sad. The look on Wade’s face would haunt him for a long time, he was sure of it. “I want to punch someone in the face.” 

Preferably the person who had hurt Wade so bad that he didn’t believe someone could genuinely care for him.

\---

Peter hadn’t seen Wade in three weeks,and he missed the guy. He missed the tacos, the constant repetition of the word “chimichanga”, his endless chattering and his messed up sense of humor. He jumped at the slightest sound and kept turning around, expecting the merc to be there.

If he ever saw Wade again he was going to punch him. Probably kiss him, too. But punching was definitely coming first.

He came into his apartment through his window wishing he’d left the uniform in the sewers. It was beyond repair anyway. He had spent the last four hours in the sewers chasing leads on Lizard and his new crew but had gotten a big ball of nothing.

He took out his street clothes (ever since Wade had told Peter how he found the apartment, Peter had started to take more precautions when coming home (street clothes hidden in the roof were one of them) and went to the bathroom. He smelled horrible and was tired and sore. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get too much rest, not while Lizard was still on the loose. Besides, he was still new to the Avengers, so he might get called in for smaller emergencies.

Sometimes, Peter thought about quitting being Spider-Man, but then he would close his eyes and picture Gwen smiling and Uncle Ben talking to him. That was what kept Peter going on the bad days. Now there was another face in his mind, Wade’s excited face as he told Peter about something he liked.

God, Peter missed the guy, and he didn’t even know where to look. Thinking back, Peter knew very little about the merc’s personal life. They had become close friends but both men were too scared of their pasts to reveal much.

Water in the shower was hot and exactly what Peter needed after the day he’d had. He turned off the shower and put on soft, comfortable clothes. He lay in his bed, but he couldn’t sleep. It was one of his bad nights. The kind of night when he was plagued by nightmares and the faces of the people he couldn't save.

\----

Someone was blasting “Careless Whisper” at his window. Peter lived on the fifth floor. He didn’t know if he should feel flattered or kill whoever it was.  
He was going to kill the person. Because it was Wade.

The merc was perched on his fire escape, wearing jeans and a hoodie and carrying a boombox. A very old and large boombox. If Peter’s neighbors hadn’t hated him before, they certainly did now.

“What are you doing here, Deadpool?” Peter crossed his arms and glared at the merc, who was the picture of sheepishness and radiating nervous energy. Peter was torn between wanting to to kiss him and wanting to kick him off his perch. It was a good drop, but he knew Wade would survive the fall.

“I came to apologize.” The merc looked Peter in the eyes, and he was so vulnerable and hopeful. Peter tried to remember why he was mad at Wade in the first place. His Mark itched, making its presence known. Right, Wade had bolted when Peter told him. “It was pointed out to me,” Wade began, but then he stopped and tilted his head. “Shut up, I wasn’t going to tell him that.” He looked back at Peter. “Anyway, I was an asshole with you, Petey. And I’m sorry for that.”

Peter looked the merc in the eyes. He was angry, but he also understood where Wade was coming from. The merc had experience with people hurting and using him.  
“Come inside, we need to have a real talk,” Peter said, stepping aside to let Wade in.

“He just said we’re going to talk.” Wade was talking to the voices in his head again.,“I’ll tell him that, if you let me.” Peter let out a breath and sat on the couch. Wade picked out one of his kitchen chairs (the thrift shop one, with yellow flowers and the hideous green paint) and sat down.

“You should have known I would never lie to you about the mark, Wade,” Peter started, because Deadpool looked like he wasn’t going to speak anytime soon (at least not talk to Peter, the guy was still talking to the voices in his head). His muttering stopped when Peter spoke.

“I know, Petey,” Wade said quietly, as he studied his shoes and squirmed a little, “but you deserve better than me.” Wade let out a little laugh, a broken haunted sound, “I kill people for a living, have voices in my head and look at me,” The merc pointed to himself, like Peter had never seen his face before. “I’m ugly and you are so beautiful and I’m broken, Peter, broken beyond repair.”

Peter stood up and turned around. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, so his Mark was bared. He wanted to punch everyone that had helped to convince Wade that he wasn’t good enough, that he wasn’t worthy of love.

“You are my soulmate, Wade Wilson,” Peter said evenly, then turned to face the merc again, “You might be everything you said, but you know what I see?” Wade shook his head, “I see someone who is trying to be better, even with everyone telling him he can’t. I see someone who protects children, someone who cares about his friends, and someone who has been hurt and broken, but if you let me, I’ll help put you back together.” Peter took a breath, steadying himself, “I love you.”

Wade finally looked Peter in the face, but his shoulders were hunched, hands clenched together. He looked like he was bracing for a blow. His voice, when he spoke, was hoarse and uncertain.

“You love me?”

“Yes, you moron, I love you.”

The kiss took Peter by surprise, but it didn’t take long for him to get over it. The kiss was desperate and sweet. Wade kissed him like he was not going to get another chance at it.It was as if they were trying to pour all their feelings into that one kiss. 

They broke the kiss to breathe and Peter felt his knees wobble, Wade was a hell of a kisser, and Peter was sure he wasn’t going to get tired of kissing the man anytime soon.  
“Having second thoughts, baby boy?”

“Nope,” Peter said as he pulled Wade down again, “just catching my breath.”

Peter was sure Wade was trying to suck his brain out through his mouth, and he was surprisingly cool with this plan. Their kisses turned more heated and demanding. Peter felt his erection starting to grow and could feel Wade’s matching one poking at his hip.

He palmed Wade through his pants and Wade moaned. Peter wanted to hear that sound again. Maybe forever. It was a delicious sound.

“Petey, wait,” Peter froze, had he done something wrong?

“Wade, you okay?”

“Yes,” Wade smiled, “I just want to take it slow.”

“Why?”

“Because, Petey, Peter, baby boy.” He was never getting rid of that one. “You are my soulmate, even if I can’t get your Mark. I want to savour what we have.”

Peter froze. “What do you mean, Wade?” If Wade didn’t have his Mark, he didn’t know what that meant for them.

Wade stroked Peter’s cheek, and his hand was warm and bumpy with scars. “I can’t get the Mark because my skin is constantly shifting.” He was smiling, but his eyes showed a hint of sadness.

Peter kissed the man again. He wanted to erase all the pain and the suffering Wade had endured, and survived, but Peter knew it was impossible. So he would do the second best thing and love Wade with everything he had.

“I love you,” he told Wade.

“I know,” Wade snickered and Peter couldn’t help himself, he laughed too. “I always wanted to be the Han to someone’s Leia.”

Wade pulled him closer and they snuggled on the couch.

“Careless Whisper always works,” Wade was talking to himself again, and Peter let his chatter fill the silence in his apartment while he looked for something to watch on Netflix. “Do you think this is the universe where I threw him off of the bridge?” Peter was not going to ask. “Right, he wouldn’t.”

Peter put on Sharknado and Wade started his usual running commentary of the movie. Peter hadn’t realized how much he had really missed this until he got it back.

And he was going to fight to keep it.


End file.
